Supreme Court blocks, for now, new deportations under 18th century wartime law

The Supreme Court on Saturday blocked for now the deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an th century wartime law In a brief order the court directed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center until further order of this court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented The high court acted in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union contending that immigration functionaries appeared to be moving to restart removals under the Alien Enemies Act of The Supreme Court had disclosed earlier in April that deportations could proceed only if those about to be removed had a chance to argue their affair in court and were given a reasonable time to contest their pending removals We are deeply relieved that the Court has temporarily blocked the removals These individuals were in imminent danger of spending the rest of their lives in a brutal Salvadoran prison without ever having had any due process ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt noted in an email On Friday two federal judges refused to step in as lawyers for the men launched a desperate legal campaign to prevent their deportation even as one judge noted the circumstance raised legitimate concerns Early Saturday the th U S Circuit Court of Appeals also refused to issue an order protecting the detainees from being deported The administration is expected to return to the Supreme Court hurriedly in an effort to persuade the justices to lift their temporary order The ACLU had already sued to block deportations of two Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet facility and sought an order barring removals of any immigrants in the region under the Alien Enemies Act In an exigency filing early Friday the ACLU warned that immigration functionaries were accusing other Venezuelan men held there of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang which would make them subject to President Donald Trump s use of the act The act has only been invoked three previous times in U S history largest part in the last few days during World War II to hold Japanese-American civilians in internment camps The Trump administration contended it gave them power to swiftly remove immigrants they identified as members of the gang regardless of their immigration status Following the unanimous high court order on April federal judges in Colorado New York and southern Texas promptly issued orders barring removal of detainees under the AEA until the administration provides a process for them to make maintains in court But there had been no such order issued in the area of Texas that covers Bluebonnet which is located miles north of Abilene in the far northern end of the state U S District Judge James Wesley Hendrix a Trump appointee this week declined to bar the administration from removing the two men identified in the ACLU lawsuit because Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed sworn declarations that they would not be instantly deported He also balked at issuing a broader order prohibiting removal of all Venezuelans in the area under the act because he reported removals hadn t started yet But the ACLU s Friday filing included sworn declarations from three separate immigration lawyers who announced their clients in Bluebonnet were given paperwork indicating they were members of Tren de Aragua and could be deported by Saturday In one affair immigration lawyer Karene Brown explained her client identified by initials was narrated to sign papers in English even though the client only spoke Spanish ICE informed F G M that these papers were coming from the President and that he will be deported even if he did not sign it Brown wrote Gelernt revealed in a Friday evening hearing before District Judge James E Boasberg in Washington D C that the administration initially moved Venezuelans to its south Texas immigration facility for deportation But since a judge banned deportations in that area it has funneled them to the Bluebonnet facility where no such order exists He noted observers released the men were being loaded on buses Friday evening to be taken to the airport With Hendrix not agreeing to the ACLU s request for an crisis order the group turned to Boasberg who initially halted deportations in March The Supreme Court ruled the orders against deportation could only come from judges in jurisdictions where immigrants were held which Boasberg announced made him powerless Friday I m sympathetic to everything you re saying Boasberg reported Gelernt I just don t think I have the power to do anything about it Boasberg this week identified there s probable cause that the Trump administration committed criminal contempt by disobeying his initial deportation ban He was concerned that the paper that ICE was giving those held did not make clear they had a right to challenge their removal in court which he deduced the Supreme Court mandated Drew Ensign an attorney for the Justice Department disagreed saying that people slated for deportation would have a minimum of hours to challenge their removal in court He mentioned no flights were scheduled for Friday night and he was unaware of any Saturday but the Department of Homeland Guard stated it reserved the right to remove people then ICE declared it would not comment on the litigation Also Friday a Massachusetts judge made permanent his temporary ban on the administration deporting immigrants who have exhausted their appeals to countries other than their home countries unless they are informed of their destination and given a chance to object if they d face torture or death there Chosen Venezuelans subject to Trump s Alien Enemies Act have been sent to El Salvador and housed in its notorious main prison